Nobility

Chapter thirteen: The Pool

Lily awoke with a start, pausing to figure out what had woken her up. She then recalled hearing a happy yelp from within the dark forest to her left. The red head quickly jumped up and went over to see what was going on. She walked in the direction she'd heard the sound, pushing through the heavy foliage until she found Arabella, grinning happily.

"Why are you so happy Arabella?" Lily asked, still making her way through the trees.

"Oh, Lily! Look!" Arabella replied, pointing to the ground.

Lily finally made her way out of the undergrowth and gasped at what she saw. In the clearing was a round pool, its surface looked like icy glass, so still and smooth that you could see your reflection as if you were looking in a mirror.

"Lily, should we go get the men?" Arabella asked, still staring dreamily at the silver pool

"I'll do it," Lily said with a mischievous grin.

Suddenly the girls heard a grunt followed by a yell from back towards camp. No more than a second later, James, Remus, and Sirius came bursting through the trees, but the funny thing was their feet weren't touching the ground. Instead, the three boys were hanging in mid-air from their backsides. Arabella chanced a glance at Lily, and as the boys fell to the ground, the girls began to laugh.

"What was that?!" James exclaimed, jumping up and dusting the dirt off his shirt.

"Look," Lily stated, simply pointing towards the shimmering pool

The boys' eyes widened as they stared at the still, silver water, but as the boys admired the pool, no one noticed the sly grin that slowly spread across Sirius' lips.

A shriek released itself from Lily's lips as the dark haired boy grabbed her bridal style and tossed her into the clear water. There was a brief silence until Lily burst broke the pool's surface, laughter bubbling from her lips to echo across the clearing.

"That was for the rude awakening," Sirius stated, grinning broadly.

Not long after, James and Remus had grasped Arabella by her hands and feet before swinging the girl through the air to land in the clear water beside Lily. Sirius was bent over in laughter by the edge of the pool, so Remus promptly pushed the boy in. Remus was next after a struggle with James, and the amber-eyed boy jumped in soon after. The groups' laughter seemed to spread out through the forest and fill it with a spirit that hadn't been felt in a long while.

A screech from the forest ceased the laughter quickly as a young woman came tumbling out of the woods, her large brown eyes widening in horror at the five in the pool.

"Get out!" she cried, her arms waving wildly.

Her curly, light brown hair was sticking up violently and her ragged tweed dress was torn. The confused five got out of the water quickly, shivering slightly. Lily blinked and they were warm and dry once more, but the crazy woman seemed not to notice as her wild pacing only seemed to increase.

"Excuse me, but what is going on?" Remus asked politely, his sandy brows knitted together in confusion.

"You mean you don't know?" the curly haired woman stopped in mid-rant and stared at the five with surprised brown orbs.

"No, we just found the pool. Then, one thing led to another and before we knew it, we were all playing in it," Sirius said with a hint of amusement in his voice that was clearly directed at the slightly, insane-looking woman.

The woman sank slowly onto a nearby rock as she dropped her head into her hands and began to speak, her voice slightly muffled by her palms. "My name is Melanie and I am the guardian of the pool of light. This is no ordinary swimming hole. It's extremely magical and whoever fully immerses them self in the water will obtain a power. This power is very wonderful and most people don't know about this pool. The people who do would not use the powers for good, so I guard the pool," Melanie finished, looking up at the bewildered young adults.

Lily stepped forward boldly. "We will not tell of how we obtained the powers we have, or of the pool, if you tell us what the powers are and how to use them."

Melanie took a deep breath and began. "All you need to do is find one word that describes you. Then, you focus on nothing else except that word and say, 'I am…then your word,' and you will turn into it."

"Into what?" Arabella asked, slightly confused.

"IT! Whatever you are!" The crazed woman said, breathing heavily "Now if you will excuse me…" And with that, the woman disappeared into the trees.

The group trotted back to camp silently.

"So… who wants to go first?" Lily asked as they gathered unconsciously in a circle around camp.

"I will," Remus said finally. With that he closed his eyes, looking peaceful and serene.

"I am. . . hidden," he said softly. Suddenly, Remus' body began to shrink. Short grey hairs were sprouting from his skin, a long snout and four short legs grew grossly out of his body, and large snarling teeth and a bushy tail later, he was a large grey wolf.

Then, in another second he was a man, then a wolf, and back again.

"How do you keep changing back?

"Does it hurt?"

"Wow."

Remus laughed at the questions being thrown at him and replied, "To change back and forth just focus on your other being. You should be able to feel it in you. Yes, it hurts the first transformation, but after that no pain. And yes… Wow."

"I'll go next," Sirius said with a handsome grin.

"I am . . . loyal." Then, just as Remus had, the dark haired boy began to grow shorter. Four legs, a shorter snout, and a wet nose later, he was a large, shaggy, black dog. Then, he was man once more followed shortly by a panting dog happily chasing his tail.

The group laughed at his childish antics as Arabella scratched behind his ears, and Sirius licked her face contently. He turned back into Sirius as James stepped forward to become his animal.

"I am . . . noble," James said, glancing quickly at Lily. Four long legs, and a pair of antlers later, in James' place stood a large white stag. The majestic animal stood regally, its head held high, its snowy fur gleaming in the early morning sun. Lily gasped at its beauty, reaching out her hand to gently stroke the silky fur before James turned human once more.

Arabella stepped forward before Lily had a chance to speak.

"I am . . . sly," the dark haired beauty said with a grin. Arabella began to shrink even smaller than the boys, and a minute later, she was a small cat. The girl was now black with one white paw and a big brown spot covering one eye. Arabella quickly changed back, glancing at Sirius who laughed at the irony of her being a cat and him a dog.

All eyes turned to Lily who stepped forward tenderly.

"I am . . . the chosen one," Lily stated finally. The red head gasped slightly at the agony that filled her body. It felt like her blood had turned to fire as it scorched her veins. Her skin was tearing and meshing back together and each pore was on burning. Before she even had time to scream, it was over and in her place stood a silky black panther.

The others turned into their animal forms too and the only thing that stayed the same about them were their eyes.

The grey wolf had sparkling blue eyes, the cheerful dog had playful grey eyes, the majestic stag had deep hazel eyes, the black and brown cat had sly brown eyes, and the beautiful panther had bright emerald green eyes.

In a flash, they were all human once more.

"Wow…" they all chorused.